Bangladesh is ready to kick-start their Asia Cup 2022 campaign where they will be facing the in-form Afghanistan side in the opening fixture. It will be an intense encounter between these two combatants considering their current form and reputation on the continental stage. The historic Sharjah Cricket Stadium will be the host of this combat between Bangla Tigers and the Afghan Army on Tuesday.
Both sides will be led by captains who are regarded as one of the best all-rounders of the shortest format of cricket. Bangladesh’s T20 side has gone through a lot of leadership changes over the past two months as we saw the likes of Mahmudullah, Nurul Hasan and Mosaddek Hossain donning the role in such a short span. Now the ball is in the court of Green and Reds’ most experienced knight Shakib Al Hasan who is aiming to bring them back on track.
A lot of big names like skipper Shakib Al Hasan and batter Sabbir Rahman have made a return to the Bangladeshi camp. Shakib skipped the Zimbabwe tour to stay focused on the continental saga while Sabbir’s last international appearance was back in September 2019 against Sri Lanka. Nurul Hasan who replaced Mahmudullah in the Zimbabwe T20I campaign suffered a finger injury in the same series and has been ruled out of the Asia Cup.
Everything is on the line for the Bangladeshi skipper
Afghanistan displayed a stellar show in their opening fixture against Sri Lanka and kick-started their continental campaign on a great note. Hence we may get to see the same Afghan Eleven turning up for the forthcoming game in order to continue their winning momentum. The skipper Mohammad Nabi and his Afghan boys will be determined to emerge victorious and top the group stage for the second time in a row.
What have they done so far?
The Bangla Tigers went on a Zimbabwe tour for a limited-overs campaign consisting of three T20I fixtures but had to return home after losing in both formats. The Green and Reds lost the opening game but orchestrated a quick bounce-back in the following fixture to win the second T20I by seven wickets. They got a target of 157 in the decider encounter but fell short by just 10 runs and missed the opportunity to take the trophy home.
Afghanistan made their T20 format debut at the Asia Cup by registering a thumping eight-wicket victory over the five-time champions Sri Lankan side. While bowling first, the Afghan Army restricted the Lankan Lions to the minimal score of 105 runs by forcing all-out inside the 20 overs. Then the batting unit of the Blue and Reds took the charge and chased it down in the first ball of the eleventh over to bag a couple of match-points.
Head to Head record
The two Asian combatants have faced each other only eight times in the T20 internationals as the Afghans were exposed to this format quite late. The head-to-head count of those eight encounters goes in the favour of the Afghani Bravehearts with 5 victories. Meanwhile, the Bangla Tigers who are currently standing on three wins are also not much far behind and can come close to the tally of their counterparts.
The most recent T20I face-off between these two nations was the second fixture of the bilateral series on the land of Bangladesh. In which, the visitors emerged victorious by eight wickets at Mirpur’s Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium and drew the two-match T20 international saga. The Afghan left-arm pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi who picked three wickets and gave away only 18 runs in four overs was the star performer of that day.
The first chapter of this rivalry happened in the 2014 ICC World T20 event which was also the incident where they quarrelled with each other in a multi-national tournament. It was the opening group stage fixture where Bangladesh registered a nine-wicket win to kick-start their World T20 campaign on home soil. Interestingly, Mohammad Nabi who was the captain of that Afghanistan side will be donning the same role in the upcoming encounter too.
Key Players
Gurbaz turned on the beast mode against Sri Lanka
Rahmanullah Gurbaz: On such a pitch where everyone was battling out for their survival, the 20-year-old came out with an aggressive approach and struck big hits fearlessly. The Afghan wicket-keeper batter was the highest scorer of the opening Asia Cup fixture scoring 40 runs in just 18 balls.
Gurbaz opened the Afghan innings with a quickfire stand at a strike rate of 222.22 striking three fours and four sixes and also issued an alarming warning to all other bowling units.
Mosaddek Hossain: The 26-year-old batting all-rounder was the stand-in captain of the Bangladeshi side in the Zimbabwe T20 series. However, he failed in his primary strength which is the batting department and could score only 13 runs from three innings.
Mosaddek bagged seven Zimbabwean dismissals in just 11 bowled overs from three appearances and topped the individual wicket-taking charts of the series.
Predicted Playing XI
Bangladesh: Anamul Haque, Sabbir Rahman, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mahmudullah, Afif Hossain, Shakib Al Hasan (C), Mosaddek Hossain, Mahedi Hasan, Mustafizur Rahman, Taskin Ahmed, Mohammad Saifuddin
Afghanistan: Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Karim Janat, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi (C), Rashid Khan, Azmatullah Omarzai, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi
Prediction
Bangladesh has played three of the last four Asia Cup edition’s grand finale which speaks their mettle on the continental stage. However, the current form of the Afghan Army gives them an upper hand over their counterparts. The Blue and Reds need to execute their plans accordingly otherwise the Bangla Tigers are accommodated with plenty of match-winners who are capable of turning the game in their favour in no time.